Permaculture Design for the Scott Family

Site Assessment

Cordova, Alaska --- Winter 2012 Mission Statement

Our family is working to find the balance point between a modern American lifestyle and an alternative subsistence lifestyle. We aim to be a part of our human community, as well as the Earth as a whole, through our intimacy with this particular place. We are working to create a homeplace which is both nurturing and challenging-- a haven for retreat and regeneration, as well as a working system where we can sustain ourselves in a socially responsible and ecologically appropriate way.
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Summary
Cordova is a remote fishing town, on the south-central coast of Alaska. The town is accessible by plane or ferry only-- no roads lead in or out. We have a year round population of 2,400 and up to 4,000 in our busy summer season. The economy is based almost entirely on the commercial salmon fishery, and a very small element of tourism. Our mountainous coastline is extremely wet, cold and windy. With heavy rains, very little sun, a limited job market and no road access, Cordova is a hard place to live. But the surrounding worldclass wilderness and the joy of small town life keep many of us passionately rooted nonetheless. We are a family of four-- two adults and two small children. This site design is for our home yard-- a 80 x 110 foot lot located on a south facing hill just above town. We are surrounded on three sides by tall evergreen trees which limit sunlight but give an ever-present sense of the adjacent forest; a gap in the trees to the south provides a view of the wild mountains towering over our town. I would like to produce as much of our own food as possible in our limited space on site, as well as bringing in our local resources of fish, game, and wild plants. Growing space must be balanced with family needs for play and relaxation space. Although this design focuses on our own small yard, I would also like to explore sustainable modern life in Cordova as a whole, from a permaculture perspective.

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Location and Climate

Cordova is in the center of 4 very different ecological systems-- to the north we are backed by an impenetrable fortress of mountains (with peaks ranging from 3,00010,000 feet) and a nearly contiguous glacial cover; to the east is the Copper River Delta, fanning out in a braided expanse of silty sloughs and marshes 35 miles wide- the largest intact wetlands in the United States; to the south lies the big bad Gulf of Alaska, wide open to the Pacific ocean; and to the east, the protected marine

waters and old-growth rainforest of Prince William Sound, the northern end of the Cascadia bioregion. Because of this juxtaposition, we get some very intense weather. It doesn't get near as cold and dark as the interior and northern Alaska, but neither does it ever get
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very warm; and sun is typically displaced by clouds and heavy rain as the surrounding mountains catch the many Pacific storms whirling by.

Cordova gets an average of 160 inches of precipitation per year. That's more than thirteen feet of water. We also get some epic storms as you can see above, with winds frequently reaching "hurricane force" (more than 74 mph). This doesn't leave much time or space for what anyone, anywhere would consider good gardening weather. Although we typically have at least 130 frost-free days and often considerably more because of our coastal influence, average peak summer temperatures are between 50 and 65 degrees-- and even that 'warm weather' rarely lasts for more than two months. Many years see weeks on end of 40-50 degrees during those supposed "peak summer months." On top of that, the late 'summer' harvest months are a deluge. August receives an average of 13 inches of rain, September an average of 22 inches of rain (and temperatures of 49 degrees) and October sees 21 inches. For a little perspective, Seattle, the self-named 'Rainy City' gets 38 inches per year. The following chart, assembled from NOAA's Western Regional Climate Center's climate data, gives an idea of what our year looks like:
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The colored vertical lines are, respectively:

yellow = spring equinox pink = typical end of continuous snow cover (my own estimation) dark green = reliable last 28 degree frost light green = reliable last 32 degree frost orange = solstice yellow = fall equinox light green = possible first 32 degree frost dark green = possible first 28 degree frost pink = typical beginning of lasting snow cover 5

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Here on the coast, we are in USDA zone 7b, with minimum winter temperatures of 0 to -5. However, I feel like this is an inaccurately high zone number because of our completely inconsistent snow cover and rapidly changing winter weather. We can have a big snow (several feet) followed by warm weather, melting all the snow into a sodden ground, followed by a temperature dive to 5 degrees and a world coated with ice. It is a very hard place for roots. And fruit trees-- if they survive the frozen ground, iced and snow laden branches, and multiple false springs-- are unlikely to get enough hours of sun and heat to ripen fruit. We also get some impressive winds. It can gust up to 80-100 miles/hour. The storms can last for days and occur with great frequency, particularly in the fall when one right after another can produce weeks of literally constant rain. Storms typically hit from the southeast, and cold winter winds blow down from the interior north. But because of the geography of the town and our site, we tend to experience both winds from the east as they blow through the gap in the mountains. The body of water on the right is a lake, to the left a protected inlet.

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The tight quarters and surrounding mountains block much of the solar possibilities, particularly in winter when the angle of the sun is exceptionally low. This chart from the University of Oregon's solar program describes the path of the sun throughout the year. Note that I have flipped it to put north at the top.

As you can see, here at our high latitude (61 degrees N) the sun takes a very shallow path through the sky. Even at summer solstice when we have a potential 18 hours of sunlight, the solar "azimuth" or highest point is only 54 degrees (90 degrees being straight up, or zenith). At winter solstice we get a mere 6 hours of potential sunlight, and the sun doesn't travel higher than 12 degrees! When reviewing the solar data for this area, it must be kept in mind how few clear days we get. I wasn't able to find any data on the percentage of clear days for our town, but averaging between the data for two nearby towns, Valdez and Yakutat, I estimate our annual average to be 45 days clear, 55 days partly cloudy and 265 days cloudy. Clear weather is most frequent in late winter, followed by spring and early summer (my own observation). Fall and early winter are typically very cloudy, as well as rainy and windy.

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Landscape and Geography

Cordova is located in a narrow strip of flat land between two ranges of mountains, to the north and south; a protected inlet to the west; and a large lake to the east. The mountains are raw and young, recently uncovered by glaciers, rising straight up 2,000-4,000 feet from the sea. The coastline is composed of cliffs, bluffs, rocky beaches and silty mudflats.

Local rock forming the hills around town is typically dark gray mudstone, slightly metamorphosed and complexly folded.

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LOCAL ECOSYSTEMS
The Cordova area is composed of 4 main ecosystems: Spruce and Hemlock Forest The majority of land is covered by a nearly continuous blanket of temperate rainforest, consisting primarily of Sitka spruce and western hemlock trees. Because of our very thin, young, acidic soils and massive rainfall, the understory is dominated by a thick carpet of moss. Brush is thin-- primarily highbush blueberries (vaccinium spp.), false azalea and devil's club. Mushrooms, lichens and many varieties of ferns are prolific. The dense shade of the younger forests excludes most herbaceous plants, but areas receiving a little light (openings, edges, more mature stands) will support various spp. of saxifrage, watermelon berry, dwarf dogwood, pink pyrola and yellow wood violets.

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Alder and Salmonberry Thickets Openings on disturbed gravel (occurring naturally in avalanche zones as well as man-made all around town) are dominated by alder and salmonberry, which quickly become impenetrably thick. Herbaceous pioneers of such sites include many spp. of grasses, horsetail, fireweed, cow parsnip, yarrow, dock and goat's beard. Muskegs Occurring in pockets throughout the forest are many muskegs (bogs) containing large masses of spongy moss-- particularly sphagnum-- and low growing bog plants such as deer cabbage, shooting star, bog cranberry, sedges and many heathers.

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Mudflats Where there are sloughs (tidally influenced streams) emptying into the ocean, a wide expanse of silty mudflat usually accumulates around the shoreline, as well as muddy banks leading back the slough itself. These areas support many kinds of sedges as well as goosetongue (beach plantain) and silverweed in the intertidal zone; and beach lettuce, lovage, angelica, beach peas and many grasses at the high tide line.

RIVER DELTA
Further out from town, to the east, the 35 mile wide Copper River Delta provides a whole other set of ecosystems, shaped by extreme wind, blowing sand, and every kind of water. The path of the glacial river's many channels are in constant flux creating a braided network of silty sand dunes, muddy sloughs, marshes, and-where the river has not been for some time-- impenetrable thickets of willow scrub which mature into stands of black cottonwood, followed by Sitka spruce and eventually western hemlock if given time.

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FAUNA
Wildlife in this rich natural setting is abundant. Large animals native to the area are bear, both black and brown, mountain goats, wolves and coyotes. Although introduced, moose and deer have naturalized well-- moose to the scrubby river delta, and deer to the many nearby islands. Small mammals include river otter, sea otter, and other members of the weasel family, beaver, snowshoe hare, squirrels and rodents. Our many water systems support abundant fish: halibut, rockfish, black cod, trout and all five species of Pacific salmon-- kings, reds, pinks, silvers and chum-- which support a thriving commercial fishery. Year round birds include bald eagles, crows, ravens and owls as well as a few smaller songbirds. We also host a huge number of migratory birds-- ducks of all kinds, Canada geese and many more songbirds summer here, and in the spring the delta is an essential stopover for hundreds of thousands of shorebirds (sandpipers, dippers, snipes, etc) headed to the Arctic.

NATURAL HUMAN DIET

The diet natural to this area would be based primarily on seafood, followed by red meat. Berries would be occasionally abundant, with green plants limited almost entirely to one short month in spring. There are no naturally occurring starches of note.

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Site Description
The site is located on the side of a hill above town, approximately 200 feet above sea level, facing south; just 4 blocks from our town's main street and 1/2 mile from the sea. We are at the end of a dead-end gravel road, so we don't get much vehicle traffic, but because of a staircase leading down from the end of the road, we do get quite a bit of foot traffic-- often people walking dogs. There are currently four houses on our short street, although there are two undeveloped lots which could be built on in the near future. The road runs the west edge of the property, with a house directly across from us. Along the north edge there is a thin line of trees between us and the adjacent neighbor's yard, with their house on the opposite side of their property. The east edge borders an undeveloped block of evergreen forest, encompassing several lots, which is unlikely to be developed any time soon. The south edge is an extremely steep slope, held in place by a small stand of spruce and hemlock, making the neighboring house on that side seem nearly irrelevant. This is as detailed as satellite imagery gets for our remote area. Our house is to the right of the purple pin.

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The lot measures approximately 80 x 110. Although this area is predominantly bedrock covered by a very thin layer of soil, evident at ground level on the uphill (north) side of the site, the main yard area to the south is deep gravel fill. The fill most likely came from the river delta which would make it a mix of gravel and sand with a high proportion of glacial silt. It drains very poorly and often puddles. All existing garden beds were made of entirely imported soil materials, including fine sand and silt from the delta, raw peat from local muskegs, seaweed off of the beach and purchased bagged compost. I began building beds when we moved in, in 2004 and slowly increased their number and quality until 2009. When we moved away for three years I left the beds in a scraggly wildflower "cover crop" which quickly became a rampage of creeping buttercup that I will probably regret until the day I die.

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OBSERVATIONS
The front yard is open to the road and extremely public feeling. It gets a moderate amount of late afternoon and evening sun. The kids prefer playing in the (deadend) street to the grassy yard. Front garden beds are starting to fall apart, and completely overgrown, but the soil looks very healthy. The side yard feels fairly private. The trees along the south edge are quite majestic, but do block much of the sun, particularly in the spring and fall when the sun is lower in the sky. In mid-winter the yard does not receive any direct sun. Nevertheless we have decent exposure the rest of the year, especially the northwestern corner of this side yard. The south facing wall of the house gets quite warm on a sunny day. Overall the space feels open but not available-- there are too many random things scattered around. The back yard feels very private, especially with the deep forest at its back. There is some decent grass, though it puddles badly in a heavy rain. It is also noticeably darker, because of the trees. No part of the backyard receives sun for more than one hour/day, and the south side of it never sees direct sun at all. The sliver of yard on the north side of the house is always dark and damp. It is cut into the bedrock of the hill, and contains rocks of all sizes.

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SPECIES PRESENT ON SITE

*denotes "weedy" spp. ***denotes those of particularly pernicious nature lovage burnet columbine

Native and Naturalized Species several kinds of grass creeping buttercup*** large leaved avens* forget-me-nots small white mustard family plant horsetail* high-bush blueberries false azalea salmonberries* alder elderberry mountain ash western hemlock Sitka spruce

Domestic Perennials raspberries mint evergreen bunching onions sorrel rhubarb

Typical Annual Crops cabbage kale broccoli potatoes

Successfully Transplanted Wild Species stinging nettle iris chocolate lily shooting star
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carrots beets chard leeks salads snap peas

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Animals there are no domesticated animals currently on site. I have had chickens in the past and intend to get a new batch in the spring. crows ravens bald eagles

chickadees robins varied thrush other unidentified songbirds European black slugs*** native small brown slugs*** snails

The Human Element

Having thoroughly explored my site's physical properties and contextual environment, I am ready to move on to the human element. Our "site" is, of course, our home's very modest sized yard. Living on an 88,000 square foot city lot, when I'd dreamed of 160 acres, is a bit of a tight fit. My Man and I have lots of fights about grass. Our family will be asking an awful lot of this permaculture design-- near self-sufficiency from me, space to run from the kids, and plenty of grass to lounge on from My Man. Add in my home business (hand made pottery and the associated large kiln house in the backyard) and the storage needs of a family of four, and you can see I will need to do a lot of stacking.

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RESIDENTS
35 year old woman-- homemaker, full-time mother and very part time potter with home studio. Passionate cook, gardener and wild foods forager. 38 year old man-- maritime lawyer beginning private practice. Currently working out of the home, but will be moving into an office 6 blocks away at the start of 2013. Devoted environmental activist currently working 1/4 time for a non-profit. 5 year old girl-- just started kindergarten. 3 year old boy-- home full time with mama.

DESIRED PHYSICAL ELEMENTS

* denotes elements already in place or in progress

Growing Spaces raised annual beds* free-form perennial beds* strawberry 'wall' (vertical growing area made of rows old guttering) raspberry hedge* pea trellis Animal Spaces chook house* run duck house

run forage Utility Spaces compost* wheelbarrow traffic/paths outdoor work area (counter, sink)

Lounging Spaces lawn/soft ground cover comfortable bench

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Lounging Spaces cont. movable chairs table to eat at hammock "floor" roofed porch

play structure street water feature Aesthetic Elements framing of view flowers

Playing Spaces lawn

willow arbors between front and back yard arbor leading to back trail

DESIRED INTANGIBLE QUALITIES

privacy coziness spaciousness expansiveness wildness civility productiveness abundance beauty

I envision our yard as an aperture between two worlds I deeply love-- an intensely human space of security, order, civility, the known; from which we look out into the wide world of possibility, adventure and the unknown, specifically the wild mountain across the valley, but also generally the enormous wilderness which surrounds this town. I see our yard as the eternally attractive permaculture 'edge'-a rich interface between two media where everything happens, where our home life can meet and mingle with the wide world.

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Survey of Family's Current Diet

In my experience, most humans can only change their daily habits so much, on a lasting basis. Although the naturally available diet here might be 50% seafood and no starch, I know that eating accordingly is not a realistic goal for my family. Of course, with our limited time resources, we are simply not going to be able to provide all or even most of our own food anyway. But even if I theoretically could provide enough fish and meat to sustain my family's caloric consumption, there would be mutiny in the household. As I said, we are walking the line between lifestyles, and our diet follows. We might eat wild fish and homegrown kale for dinner, but we like to follow it with a pan of brownies.

Here is an estimate of our current diet: starch -- 35% dairy -- 20% meat -- 15% pre-prepared packaged food -- 12% vegetables -- 10% seafood -- 8%

Obviously in order to approximate the diet natural to this place, we would have to make enormous changes, which I simply do not see as realistic. However, there are a few changes we would be happy to make, if I could provide for them-- I consider these our leverage points. 1. More varied seafood. I don't see us eating much more salmon (we already eat it twice a week), but we could certainly add in halibut if we could get it. Halibut is the only other readily available seafood.

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2. More meat. We would all like to eat more meat, if I could get more. I think we could eat 20-25% meat, which would nudge out some of the dairy and starch. 3. More vegetables. Although I already eat more veggies than the rest of the family combined, I could happily eat even more if I took the time to prepare them for myself. Yearly Food Needs for Ideal Diet 175 lbs fish 525 lbs meat (inc. poultry) 350 lbs dairy 450 lbs vegetables 600 lbs starch (bread, grains, potatoes)

CURRENT FOOD SOURCES

We do not own a boat, so we buy our salmon from commercial fisher friends. The price is very good for whole fish straight off the boat (about $1.50-$2/lb), and we do all of our own processing. Although I do hunt, I haven't in recent years. In addition to the lack of time, the lack of a boat means I have to beg my way onto friend's boats, which is very hit or miss. The main hunting here is on the islands for deer, which yield an average of 40-50 lbs of meat per animal. You are allowed 6, but to fill your tags would require a lot of hunting time. There is also a yearly lottery for moose tags, which represent several hundred pounds of meat and a very large time commitment. A few local big game hunting guides will save the carcasses of black bear shot for their hide and head, and I have gotten up to 6 bear per season that way.

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I have not yet gotten any wild meat since we moved back and we have been eating organic beef from Azure Standard (see below) as well as industrial meat from the store. We buy all of our dairy from the store. You cannot get good organic dairy here, and since I don't trust the big name brands to be worth their doubled price, I have been buying the industrial stuff since we got back. This is a big thorn in my side. Most of our grain and bulk food products come from Azure Standard, an organic food buyers co-op in Oregon. I make big orders a few times/year and have it shipped up on the barge. My current annual garden beds will provide about 160 lbs of vegetables per year once I get them back up and running this spring. Our current source for vegetables is a bi-weekly produce box from Full Circle Farm in Washington, which is sent up on the plane. Non-organic potatoes are available from the Anchorage area at a decent price every fall.

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Resources and Challenges

Area Resources copious rain and water abundant wild fish and game wild berries, mushrooms and edible plants lots of scrap wood available from local burn pile fish waste from canneries sawdust from local mills good cultural ethics of DIY, make-do and make use

Area Challenges extremely limited sun typically cold weather growing season too much rain soil thin to none delivered soil/materials not available (you cannot buy a truckload of soil, purchased soil comes by the $15 bag) growth rates and fertility very low

Site Resources fairly flat ground south facing aspect glacial silt in gravel fill provides store of potentially available minerals
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privacy view native berry bushes over 200 sqft worth of high quality soil already (painstakingly) built up from scratch accumulation of scavenged wood electrical conduit and plastic sheeting for small hoop houses

Site Challenges sun access limited by surrounding forest no naturally occurring soil-like substrate whatsoever extreme slug population

Personal Resources high level of gardening skills and experience good knowledge of local ecology obsessive personality scavenger/pack rat personality pick-up truck

Personal Challenges time, energy and money all extremely limited because of raising two small children trouble with follow-through we don't own a boat, a necessary tool for harvesting many of the area's resources
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Comprehensive List of Native Plants Potentially Useful to Permaculture Design

NF - nitrogen fixer GR - ground cover SH - shade tolerant ML - high mass mulch producer

Edible Fruiting Plants: salmonberry -- Rubus spectabalis Pacific crab apple -- Malus fusca high bush blueberries -- Vaccinium alaskaense and ovalifolium low bush blueberries -- Vaccinium caespitosum and uliginosum bog cranberry -- Oxycoccos oxycoccus high bush cranberry -- Viburnum edule dwarf nagoonberry -- Rubus arcticus
GR SH GR GR SH ML

trailing black currant -- Ribes laxiflorum coastal strawberry -- Fragaria chiloensis

Edible Leaf Plants mountain sorrel -- Oxyria dignya sheep sorrel -- Rumex acetosella Siberian miner's lettuce -- Claytonia sibirica Alaska and yellow wood violets -- Viola langsdorfii and glabella stinging nettle -- Urtica dioica
GR

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Ornamental Support Plants: Fruiting/Bird Habitat: red elderberry -- Sambucus racemosa Sitka mountain ash -- Sorbus sitchensis Flowering/Bug Habitat: red columbine -- Aquilegia formosa goat's beard -- Aruncus dioicus
ML ML

fireweed -- Epilobium angustifolium river beauty -- Epilobium latifolium cow parsnip -- Heracleum lanatum

ML ML

kneeling angelica and sea-watch -- Angelica genuflexa and lucida shootingstar -- Dodecatheon pulchellum and jeffreyi Dense Shade Plants: dwarf dogwood -- Cornus canadensis lady fern -- Athyrium filix-femina Nitrogen Fixers: beach pea -- Lathyrus japonicus Nootka lupine -- Lupinus nootkatensis
ML GR

Pioneer Plants/Nutrient Accumulators- Native and Introduced: willow spp. Sitka alder -- Alnus crispa
NF NF, GR

white clover -- Trifolium repens

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shepherd's purse -- Capsella bursa-pastoris dandelion -- Taraxacum officinale yarrow -- Achillea millefolium pineapple weed (Northern chamomile) -- Matricaria discoidea plantain -- Plantago major dock -- Rumex spp.
GR

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